DCS deleted details of children's deaths

An example of a page from the public records report made available to The Tennessean from the DCS.
(The Tennessean)

NASHVILLE - Someone at the Department of Children's Services who prepared documents for The Tennessean deleted large portions in the media's copy of state child fatality records — removing information that should have been made public.

Who did it, and why, the department has not yet said. An internal review is ongoing.

Last week, the agency provided a new set of Child Fatality Review Team records that include previously removed paragraphs describing how DCS allowed some abusive parents to keep children who later died. The records also show growing discomfort among senior-level staffers about the ineffectiveness of their death reviews.

Those details, which DCS spokeswoman Molly Sudderth said should have been there all along, are printed in red text.